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T-Wolves dominate in freestyle competition

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 1/26/22

GRAND MARAIS— Ely skiers dominated in a six-way freestyle Nordic meet here last Friday, continuing a string of strong performances by the Timberwolves’ squads.In a field of 31 racers, Ely …

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T-Wolves dominate in freestyle competition

Posted

GRAND MARAIS— Ely skiers dominated in a six-way freestyle Nordic meet here last Friday, continuing a string of strong performances by the Timberwolves’ squads.
In a field of 31 racers, Ely seniors Gabriel Pointer and Jon Hakala finished first and second respectively. Pointer bested all skiers in the five-kilometer contest with a time of 15:05.7. Hakala finished second with a time of 15:44.0, just a half-second ahead of Connor Matschiner, of Mesabi East. Ely senior Micah Larson finished in seventh place, with a time of 16:13.1, putting all three of Ely’s varsity skiers in the top ten. But with only three varsity skiers competing, the Ely squad finished last in the team competition, since the team rankings, calculated in points, are based on each team’s top four skiers.
The Ely girls, meanwhile, finished in the top spot in the team rankings, helped by top ten finishes from juniors Zoe Devine, Phoebe Helms, and sophomore Ava Skustad. Devine took third place with a time of 17:11.2, while Helms finished in fifth in 18:37.2. Skustad finished in eighth place in a time of 19:54.5. Junior Sydney Durkin finished in 14th place, with a time of 21:03.9 to help the girls to a 372-point finish, seven points ahead of second-place Proctor/Hermantown.
While the all-senior Ely boys varsity ski team is a bit light on participation this year, the team has a promising crop of younger skiers currently competing at the jr. varsity level. At last Friday’s meet, Ely jr. varsity skiers took the top five spots and finished seven team members in the top ten in a field of 33 racers. It was a similar story on the girls side, where Ely’s jr. varsity squad finished five racers in the top ten and took three of the four top positions.
Ely skiers will be back in action on Friday, when they compete in the Duluth East Invitational. They’re set to host the Ely Invitational next Thursday, Feb. 3, at Hidden Valley. Both competitions get underway at 9:30 a.m.